Aircraft brakes often include a ballscrew. A ballscrew typically converts rotational motion into translational motion by driving a translating ballnut. In an aircraft brake, the ballnut may (either directly or through other components) drive a brake stack into frictional engagement. As is described herein, conventional ballscrew assemblies may comprise a ballscrew and a housing.
Aircraft are sensitive to weight restrictions as each pound of extra weight affects fuel consumption and efficiency of the aircraft. It is desirable to reduce the weight of the ballscrew assembly while retaining the robust nature of the ballscrew.
Also, aircraft experience large temperature swings, for example, between ground temperatures and in-flight temperatures. Dissimilar materials may react differently when exposed to these temperatures. For instance, materials often experience thermal expansion and contraction when introduced to temperature changes. A metal-on-metal ballnut and ballnut housing of different materials may seize up or scrape due to this thermal expansion. A metal-on-metal ballnut and ballnut housing may also experience excessive wear since those materials are not optimized for their tribological properties.